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Class _ P_ZJL 
Book_ P 1 4 4 




COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 






























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JACINTH 

AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 






















Copyright , 1922, 

By W A. Wilde Company 
All rights reserved 

Jacinth and Her Fairy Friends 

ft 


DEC 27'22 

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©C1A692567 

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Affectionately dedicated to all those boys 
and girls who are watching the flowers 
that bloom ; and listening to the brooks 
that sing ; and are loving friends to all 
the living things of the great, green 
woods ; and with the help of the Fairies 
of sunshine and shadow , are making 
the world a better place to live in 















































Jacinth and Her Fairy Friends 



H 1 OEL’S sister, Jacinth, stood by the window 
in the cheerful living-room of their tiny 
cottage, way, way up on the side of the 
big hill. Her little sister, Betty, was 
making a cloak for her doll, Bettina, and her mother 
was finishing the new dress that Jacinth was to wear 
to-morrow when she went to town, to spend the rest 
of the month with her grandmother. 

Through the window she could see the mist- 
wreaths blowing before the gusty wind,—right across 
the hillside, down into the valley, and across the roll¬ 
ing fields beyond. 


11 












JACINTH 


As the wreaths came to the big trees that grew 
where the land seemed to meet the sky, they caught 
and lingered, just as if they were sorry to leave the 
valley, and the fields, and the big hill, and to go their 
way over to the other side, where they would come to 
the town. 

For the town was full of tall houses and little nar¬ 
row streets, and there were big chimneys, each throw¬ 
ing out a cloud of smoke. Perhaps the summer mists 
knew that they got tangled up among these tall houses 
and big chimneys and little narrow streets, and that 
the smoke from the chimneys got all mixed up with 
them. Then they lost their delicate whiteness, and 
violet shadows, and gleams of pink and blue, where 
the rays of sunlight shone through them. They be¬ 
came just common gray fogs. No wonder they clung 
to the trees, where the land seemed to meet the sky! 

So the clouds let the fretful little gusts of wind 
blow them back and forth, and up and down, then 
away over to the trees, then back again into the 

pleasant valley, and it seemed to Jacinth, as she 
12 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


watched them, that they hated to leave it, to go 
their way over the trees into the town on the other 
side of the valley. 

“ Jacinth,’’ said Betty, as she came and joined her 
at the window, “ don’t you think Bettina’s cloak is 
going to be nice? ” 

“ Yes,” replied Jacinth, but she did not seem much 
interested. 

“ You see,” continued Betty, “ Mother’s cut it long, 
so it will be just like yours, and she is going to give me 
a piece of the plaid like your new dress, to line it 
with.” 

“ It’ll keep her nice and warm,” responded Jacinth. 
“ Oh, Betty, just look at the mist blowing all through 
the valley.” 

“ And there’s another shower, too,” said Betty, as 
they both watched from the window. Then Betty 
held Bettina up between them, so she could look out, 
too. 

It looked as if the mist-wreaths chased each other 

over the fields, and round the wild-rose bushes that 
13 




JACINTH 


were just beginning to bloom in all the fence-corners. 
They clustered round the spirea and the meadow¬ 
sweet, hiding one from the other for a moment, and 
then clinging to each other, till they seemed to be play¬ 
ing a merry game of hide-and-seek. 

Then a little shower would join the game,—a warm, 
soft, gentle, little shower that passed in a moment, 
and almost made the buttercups and daisies and dan¬ 
delions grow as the two girls looked at them. Then 
followed a gleam of sunshine, till it seemed as if the 
whole wide valley and the soft blue sky had joined 
the game. 

And there was Pixie Woods, too. That grew all 
the way up the big hill, right up to the garden of 
their house. Only the path down the hillside was clear, 
where their brother, Noel, went every morning to 
work, and came home to Mother, and Jacinth, and 
little sister Betty, every evening. Then Pixie 
Woods stretched all round the hill. 

“Look, Betty!” exclaimed Jacinth. “Just look 

how the leaves of all the trees in Pixie Woods are 
14 




/ 

/ 


AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


dancing in the gusts of wind, and shining and spar¬ 
kling in the gleams of sunshine.” 

“ And I can see the rain-drops glistening on all 
the wild geraniums, and the red and yellow colum¬ 
bines, and the pink lady’s-slippers, that grow along 
the path,” said Betty. 

“ Just as if they were wearing diamonds,” went on 
Jacinth. 

“ Perhaps they are,” said Betty, “ because this is 
the first of June.” 

Then both Jacinth and Betty grew thoughtful, as 
they looked at Pixie Woods, and thought of the Pixie 
Fairies, that everybody round there knew lived in the 
very center of the woods. And Bettina leaned over 
against Jacinth’s arm, and gazed straight out at the 
sky, as if she was thinking of something, too. 

“ It was a day just like this,” said Jacinth, “ when 
Noel came home and told us that he was sure he had 
heard the Pixie Fairies out in the woods. He 
thought they must have been dancing round a hazel- 
bush.” 


15 




JACINTH 


“ Then he thought they must be up in the trees, 
the way the leaves rustled,” continued Betty. 

“ And do you remember, Betty,” went on Jacinth, 
“ the day he came home and said he was sure he had 
heard the Pixie Fairies singing? ” 

“ Yes,” responded Betty eagerly. “ He said it 
sounded just like chimes on silver bells.” 

“ And,” went on Jacinth, getting quite excited, 
“ he had followed the sounds ever and ever so far, 
right into Pixie Woods.” 

“ Till he came to the big rocks,” continued Betty, 
“ where the spring is; that’s the very center of Pixie 
Woods, and right beside Crystal Pool.” 

“ Then there was the night he was so late,” Jacinth 
remembered. “ He really saw the Pixiekins and 
talked with them. I wish I could see them, too! ” 

“ So do I,” said Betty. “ I wish I could see Wil¬ 
low Pixiekin.” 

“ Noel said,” continued Jacinth, “ that Oak Pixie¬ 
kin was so very strong, and that Chestnut Pixiekin 
was so very clever.” 


16 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“ And Willow Pixiekin was so kind,” said Betty. 

“ And that they were little, like the fairies always 
are,” added Jacinth. “ I wish I could see them! ” 

“ But Noel said,” Betty reminded her, “ that Chest¬ 
nut Pixiekin told him that people could only see them 
in the moonlight, unless some wonderful magic helped 
them.” 

“ I wish I knew what the magic was,” said Jacinth. 
“ But Noel says he thinks we shall see them some 
time, if we always look for them, whenever we go into 
Pixie Woods.” 

Then the two girls grew very thoughtful again, as 
they watched the little showers that were going over 
the trees where the land met the sky, although the 
mists were still lingering in the valley, as if they hated 
to go over the trees into the town. 

But Jacinth was not smiling and laughing as she 
usually was. She was very quiet, and was looking 
very serious, as she watched all that was happening on 
the side of the big hill, and in the valley, and in the 

fields beyond. Then she looked at Pixie Woods 
17 




JACINTH 


again, where every leaf was so bright and shiny, and 
the whole green wood looked so cheerful, and then a 
big tear ran down her cheek. 

“ Oh, Mother! ” all at once Jacinth exclaimed. “ I 
wish Grandmother could come and stay with us while 
Aunt Esther is away. It is so beautiful now in the 
valley, and the garden, and in Pixie Woods. Don’t 
you think she could if she only tried? ” 

“ I’m afraid not, dear,” Mother replied. “ You 
know if she went away, too, there wouldn’t be any one 
to water the flower-bed, or feed the little young 
chickens, and care for Kittycat. So I fear she must 
stay at home till Aunt Esther comes back. But just 
think how nice it is that she wants you to go and stay 
with her! And how much you will be able to help her 
while you are there! And you will be so busy taking 
care of her that the whole month will go before you 
know it! ” 

“ I love to go to Grandmother’s in the winter,” 
said Jacinth, rather slowly. “ Then all the stores 

have such pretty things in the windows, and the 
18 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


streets are so brightly lighted. Besides, Grandmother 
has such big fires burning, where we can roast chest¬ 
nuts and apples. Oh, it’s lovely then. But the streets 
are so narrow, and there isn’t any breeze now. There 
are no fields and woods to run in, and no one to play 
with. There are no bees, or birds, or butterflies, even, 
round Grandmother’s flower-bed. Now Pixie Woods 

are all coming into bloom-” and another big tear 

ran slowly down Jacinth’s cheek, as her lips trembled. 

Then Betty hugged Bettina close to her, and whis¬ 
pered in her ear that she was sorry Jacinth was to be 
away all that whole month. Then she nestled against 
Jacinth, and whispered to her, “ Bettina is awfully 
sorry you are going, Jacinth,” and Jacinth kissed 
both of them. 

“ Well, well,” said Mother, “ it will be just as beau¬ 
tiful here when you and Grandmother come back next 
month, after Aunt Esther gets home. While you are 
there you must take such good care of Grandmother’s 
little garden, that it will be as bright as Pixie Woods 

itself. Now that the showers seem to be over, I won- 
19 





JACINTH 


der if you couldn’t find some wild strawberries along 
the edge of the woods, for Noel’s supper, Jacinth? ” 

“ I think I know where there are some fine ones,” 
declared Jacinth. “ And perhaps I can find some of 
the wood-strawberries that are ripe, as well.” 



“ That will be nice,” replied Mother. “ We have 
not had any yet this season, and the flavor is finer than 
that of the pasture berries. Better wear your long 
cloak, so you will not get wet if there should be an¬ 
other shower. And you need not hurry, as there is 
20 






AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


plenty of time before supper. Perhaps Betty can 
find some of our own strawberries in the garden, be¬ 
sides.” 

“ I’ll look,” said Betty, “ while Jacinth’s gone.” 

Jacinth put on her long cloak, that covered her all 
up, right down to the hem of her dress. It had a big 
round hood at the back, which she could pull up over 
her muslin cap, and she could tuck her two long yel¬ 
low braids of hair inside it, so she could keep quite 
dry even if she was caught in a shower. Noel always 
called it her Little-Red-Riding-Hood cloak, because 
it was such a bright red, and looked so big and com¬ 
fortable. Then she found the basket that she always 
took when she was going to look for strawberries, and 
Betty came and tucked a little package of cookies in 
it. 

“ Good-by, Mother,” she called as she started down 
the path, to look for the strawberries that grew beside 
it. “ Good-by, Betty.” 

“ Good-by,” called Betty. “ Bettina and I will be 
watching for you.” 


21 




JACINTH 


“ Do not hurry,” her mother called after her. 
“ You have plenty of time.” 

Jacinth went half-way down the hill. Then she 
turned in toward the woods, quite near the group of 



big rocks where Noel had seen the Pixiekins that win¬ 
ter night in the moonlight. 

When she came near the rocks, she looked all round 

very carefully, and walked very softly and quietly. 
22 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


She stooped down to look under the leaves of the 
hazel-bushes that grew there, for she always hoped 
that she might see some of the Pixie Fairies, if she 
looked carefully enough. Or, if she did not see them, 
perhaps she might hear them whispering, and possi¬ 
bly singing, as Noel had done before he really saw 
them. 

But to-day the wind kept blowing in sharp little 
gusts, and made the hazel twigs bend and twist, and 
the leaves flutter and knock against each other. It 
even caught Jacinth’s long red cloak and twisted it 
round her. 

“It is too windy to-day for the Pixiekins to come 
out on the path, I am sure,” said Jacinth to herself. 
“ But I do wish I could see them! ” 

Just beyond the rocks there was a patch of wild 
strawberries that Jacinth knew about. They were 
fine, big, strong plants, that she had already gathered 
many berries from. When she gently separated the 
leaves, there were the scarlet berries, and every plant 

still had growing, right among the berries, the round 
23 



JACINTH 


white flowers, with their orange-colored stamens just 
covered with pollen, waiting for the bees and flies to 
come and take it. 

As Jacinth picked all the ripe berries, the flies and 
honey-bees buzzed and hummed all round her. A 
black-and-yellow butterfly came and floated overhead, 
then went and settled on the very first spray of wild- 
carrot flower that had opened. The flat-topped blos¬ 
som made a nice resting-place for her, while she 
sucked the nectar from each tiny floweret. 

Then a gust of wind came again and blew the leaves 
together, making the twigs of the hazel-bushes rattle 
against each other. It almost blew Jacinth’s muslin 
cap off, and twisted her red cloak round and round 
her, and made the spray of wild-carrot flower sway 
so much that the black-and-yellow butterfly had to 
jump off and go and settle on a tree-trunk, where she 
was sheltered. 

“ You bright black-and-yellow butterfly! ” Jacinth 
exclaimed. “ The wind does push you about, doesn’t 

it? ” And the butterfly opened and shut her wings 
24 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


as if she was answering Jacinth, and the honey-bees 
gave a deep, gruff hum, as if they were answering her, 
too. 

“ Noel always says the bees, and flies, and butter¬ 
flies, and birds, and animals are the Pixiekins’ mes¬ 
sengers, and if they like us, the Pixiekins will like us, 
too,” said Jacinth. 

“ Hum-m, hum-m, hum-m,” agreed the honey-bees. 
And the black-and-yellow butterfly opened and shut 
her wings again, as if she was quite sure of it, too. 

But when Jacinth had picked all the berries that 
were ripe, she only had a very few in her basket. 

“ Perhaps,” she said to herself, “ I can find some of 
the wood-strawberries ripe in Pixie Woods. I think 
I will try.” 

So she picked up her basket and entered the woods 
by a little narrow foot-path that wound round and 
round among the big trees, and in and out through 
the bushes. Sometimes the path lay in the shadow, 
and sometimes, where there was more space between 

the trees, in the warm summer sunshine, which made 
25 





26 



































AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


each rain-drop that still clung to the fern fronds 
glisten and shine like a tiny rainbow. 

There, at the roots of a big tree, was a patch of the 
wood-strawberries. Jacinth knelt down among them, 
and pushed the leaves apart, and there were clusters 
of the berries, some tiny green ones and some big 
green ones, and a few red ones just ready to pick. 

As Jacinth picked the ripe berries, the flies and 
honey-bees buzzed and hummed about her, and all 
over the strawberry-plants. And the black-and-yel- 
low butterfly seemed to have gone into the woods 
with her, and came and fluttered and bobbed all over 
the strawberry-plants, to find some of the round, 
white flowers that were scattered everywhere between 
the berries. 

Presently a black-and-golden bumblebee came, too, 
with a deep, deep hum, and flew round and round. 
Then he seemed to think of something else, perhaps 
of more interest, for he flew round and round in a 
circle, and went up and up and up, higher and higher, 

till he was above the tops of the trees. Then he flew 
27 




JACINTH 


away in a straight line, right towards the center of 
Pixie Woods. 

When Bumblebee had gone, Jacinth finished pick¬ 
ing all the strawberries that were ripe. Then she 
looked in her basket again. 

“ Well,” she said as she looked at them, “ there will 
be just a very little dish of berries for Noel’s supper, 
but there will not be any for Mother, or Betty, or me, 
unless I find some more.” 

As she was wondering where to look next, she no¬ 
ticed the little foot-path that went twisting and turn¬ 
ing in and out among the trees and the bushes until it 
was hidden, but looked as if it ran right into the very 
center of Pixie Woods. It seemed, as she looked at 
it, as if all the tall ferns, and the blue iris, and the 
wild geraniums beckoned her to come, and follow the 
little path. 

There , 9 said Jacinth, “ perhaps there will be more 
strawberries further along. I’m just going to follow 
the foot-path, ever and ever so far, right into Pixie 
Woods.” 


28 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


As she went along, sometimes through the shadows, 
then again through the sunlight, all the wild flowers, 
and ferns, and bushes nodded their welcome to her. 
The robins and the orioles piped a welcome, too, and 



presently she saw a big, fat, gray squirrel, who seemed 
to be coming to meet her along the little foot-path, 
just where it turned round a barberry bush, that was 
covered with yellow blossoms, all golden in the sun¬ 
light. 

When Jacinth came near, Gray Squirrel just 

flicked her bushy tail, and turned round and scuttled 
29 




JACINTH 


down the little foot-path in front of her. Then she 
scampered up a tree-trunk and round it, so her head 
just showed on the further side. Her bright black 
eyes twinkled and snapped as she watched Jacinth 
come almost up to her. Then she jumped down 
again, and along the path, just as if she was showing 
Jacinth the way. 

Jacinth followed Gray Squirrel, and listened to the 
birds’ songs, and tried to see them as they flitted from 
tree to tree on each side of the foot-path. She began 
to feel so happy that she quite forgot that she was to 
leave it all to-morrow, and go to her grandmother’s 
house in the town, with its tall houses, and narrow 
little streets, and big chimneys, that were always 
throwing out a cloud of smoke. 

She listened to the leaves rustling, and sometimes 
a twig snapping, as a wood-mouse scampered over it. 
She watched the birds so busy and happy, and felt as 
if all the world was a place to play and sing and be 
happy hb and that no one ever worked or worried, or 

ever did anything they didn’t want to. So, as she 
30 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


followed Gray Squirrel along the little foot-path as 
it ran right into Pixie Woods, she forgot every trou¬ 
blesome thought, and laughed to herself, and sang as 
she went. 

The woods grew thicker and thicker, and presently 
she came to a very big tree. It was the very largest 
tree in the whole of Pixie Woods. As the sun was 
shining, of course it looked just like a big tree to 
Jacinth. She did not know that it really was the 
front door of the Pixiekin Fairies’ house. 

This tree had great roots spreading out on each 
side of it. One of them twisted round, and went 
straight across the trunk, so it made a step. 

“ It looks just as if that was a door-step,” said 
Jacinth as she looked at the big tree and the curious 
root. “ Just like the door-step of somebody’s house,” 
she said aloud, and she sat down on this step to rest 
awhile. 

Gray Squirrel had found a little bunch of black¬ 
berries that were just beginning to turn red on one 

side,- the very first of the season. She came and sat 
31 





T 


32 















































AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


opposite Jacinth and ate them, and her bright black 
eyes snapped and twinkled. 

Then Jacinth opened her basket, and took out the 
packet of cookies that Betty had put in there for her. 
She ate one of them as she listened to the bees hum¬ 
ming, and the birds singing. She watched the butter¬ 
flies flashing through the sunlight, and thought how 
beautifpl it all was, and how happy everything was, 
now the showers were over. 

“Too-hoo! Too-hoo! Too-hoo!” suddenly rang 
out, just over Jacinth’s head. She looked up, right 
into the great, round, yellow eyes of a big brown owl, 
who was sitting on a branch of the tree, right over 
the door-step. 

“ Too-hoo! Too-hoo!” he called. To Jacinth it 
sounded like, “ Who are you? Who are you? ” 

“ Oh, I’m only Jacinth,” she answered hurriedly; 
for he did look at her so very steadily, as if she had 
no business to be sitting on the door-step of the Pixie- 
kins’ front door. 

“ Too-hoo! Too-hoo!” he said in a much milder 
33 




JACINTH 


tone. It sounded to Jacinth just as if he said, “ That 
will do! That will do!” Then he settled his head 
well back into his feathers, and closed one great, 
round, yellow eye. Then he closed the other eye, and 
looked as if he was fast asleep again. 

While Jacinth and big Brown Owl were talking to 
each other, Gray Squirrel chattered, and chattered, 
and chattered, as if she was explaining something. 
Jacinth thought Brown Owl looked at Gray Squirrel 
as if he understood what she was saying. 

Jacinth ate another cookie, but she looked up at 
Brown Owl every little while. He seemed to be fast 
asleep, and not even to know that she was still there. 

When Gray Squirrel had eaten her berries, she 
jumped up, and flicked her bushy tail, and ran down 
the foot-path a little way. Then she stopped and 
looked back at Jacinth, as if she was saying, “ Come 
along, I’m waiting for you.” Then it seemed just as 
if all the grasses, and ferns, and blue iris, and wild 
geraniums, all nodded and beckoned to her to come 
along the little foot-path. 

34 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“Yes/’ said Jacinth, getting up and picking up 
her basket. “ Yes, I’m coming. I’m going to follow 
the foot-path ever and ever so far, right into Pixie 
Woods.” 



“ Huite-toit! Huite-toit!” said Brown Owl quite 
softly and gently. Jacinth thought he said, “ Quite 

right! Quite right! ” and when she looked up at him 
35 



JACINTH 


once more, he had opened just one great, round yel^ 
low eye, and was watching her go along the path. 

Now, while Jacinth had stopped to pick the wood- 
strawberries, just after she came into Pixie Woods, 
there was a very serious conference going on, right in 
the middle of the woods. All the Pixie Fairies, and 
Bumblebee, and Gray Squirrel, and the little old 
Lady, who was the Spirit of the Spring, were there. 

The spring in the middle of the big rock came up 
from the very center of the world. It poured out the 
clearest, sweetest, coldest water that ever was known. 
But it had been bubbling, and boiling, and gurgling, 
and grumbling, and making a dreadful fuss, as if the 
little old Lady, who lived in the very middle of it, 
was very angry about something. 

Now the Pixiekins, who were very busy, kept hear¬ 
ing the bubbling, and boiling, and gurgling, and 
grumbling, as they were working beside Crystal Pool, 
in the very center of Pixie Woods. They had won¬ 
dered all day what was annoying the little old Lady 

of the Spring. At last Chestnut Pixiekin, who was 
36 






he'was poking and prodding at the sticl^ and leaves 


37 




























































JACINTH 


very clever, said he would climb up the banks of the 
stream above Crystal Pool, and then up to the big 
rocks, and try to find out if he could, just what the 
trouble was. 

As he scrambled up the rocks, at the edge of the 
pool, and along the side of the stream where the water 
ran from the spring to Crystal Pool, he caught sight 
of the little old Lady of the Spring herself. With her 
long, crystal-headed walking-stick she was poking 
and prodding at the sticks and leaves that had fallen 
into the stream’s channel. He noticed that she was 
looking very angry, and was talking to herself. 
Then, as he got nearer, he could hear what she was 
saying. 

“ This is dreadful! Dreadful! ” declared the little 
old Lady of the Spring, poking at some of the dead 
leaves, and sticks, and glowing green moss, that pre¬ 
vented the water from getting along the channel of 
the little stream. 

Usually Crystal Pool lay still, and quiet, and calm. 

Now it had energetic ripples all over its surface, from 
38 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


the force of the water from the spring, as it had to 
fight its way along, instead of flowing in gently, as it 
always had done. 

“ Those Pixiekins have forgotten to clear the 
channel! ” declared the little old Lady of the Spring. 
“ And they have left sticks, and stones, and leaves, 
and moss, all the way down to Crystal Pool. I sup¬ 
pose they expect me to clear it. Dreadful! Dread¬ 
ful ! ” she exclaimed. Then she poked and prodded at 
the obstructions again, with the long, crystal-headed 
walking-stick that she carried. 

At that moment Chestnut Pixiekin scrambled up 
the rocks on the other side of the stream, just oppo¬ 
site to the little old Lady of the Spring. 

“ Oh, there you are at last! ” she exclaimed indig¬ 
nantly. “ At last! Just look at all those sticks, and 
stones, and leaves, and things, choking the channel of 
my stream! Is it any wonder that my spring is bub¬ 
bling, and boiling, and gurgling, and grumbling, 
when it has to fight all these things? ” 

“Oh, Lady of the Spring!” said Chestnut. “I 
39 




JACINTH 


am so sorry that all those things have got in the way. 
We have had so much to do this spring, that we have 
not been up here.” 

“ I should think not! ” snapped the little old Lady 
of the Spring. “Not been up here, indeed! And 
where do you suppose the water is coming from to 
fill Crystal Pool, for all the pond-lilies? and how will 
the brook beyond be filled, where the frogs, and fish, 
and young dragon-flies live, if the stream is all choked 
up? Don’t you hear how my spring is boiling, and 
bubbling, and gurgling, and grumbling, just because 
it can’t get along? ” 

Chestnut was down on his hands and knees by this 
time, pulling out the sticks and stones, to let the water 
through. 

“ And just think of it! ” she continued. “ Here it 
is the very first of June, and the Pond-Lily Festival 
will begin to-morrow! Nothing has been cleared up 
for it! How is it, you Pixiekins are not taking care 
of Crystal Pool for the festival? ” 

“We can’t get our water-boots finished, Lady of 
40 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


the Spring,” explained Chestnut. “ We are working 
at them just as hard as we can. But all day long the 
wind has blown in gusts. It has scattered the leaves, 
and knocked the looms over, and broken the spiders’ 
threads, and we are nowhere near done. I don’t know 
what we are going to do.” 

“Well! well! well!” exclaimed the little old Lady of 
the Spring. “ Perhaps I was too cross! But when 
we grow old, everybody neglects us! They are all 
thinking of themselves and their own pleasures, and 
we older ones do not matter. All you Pixiekins are 
thinking of nowadays is your little young friends, like 
New Year. But a fresh New Year comes every 
twelve moons. I have seen many New Years, and 
they are very much alike in the long run. Some of 
them are bright and pleasant, and others are dull and 
stupid. But my Spring and I have been here since 
the beginning. Without us, Pixie Woods could not 
have grown. The water, and air, and sunshine were 
necessary.” 

“We really did not mean to neglect you, Lady of 
41 




JACINTH 


the Spring! ” explained Chestnut. “ Indeed, we did 
not! ” 

“ Well! well! well! ” declared the little old Lady of 
the Spring. “Perhaps not! perhaps not! But you 
ought to get your water-boots made on time, so you 



could clear up Crystal Pool. All my children, the 
pond-lilies, are putting up their buds now. Many of 
the yellow ones are already open. The white ones 
will begin to open to-morrow. The first of the pink 
42 






AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


ones will come in a few days. Yet the dead leaves are 
not gathered up, or the edges of the pool cleared. 
Why are you neglecting my children? ” 

“ It is because the wind has blown so hard all day,” 
replied Chestnut. “ We cannot get the water-boots 
finished.” 

Just then another gust of wind swept across 
Crystal Pool and the clear space beyond it. 

“ There! ” declared Chestnut. “ Just look how it 
is blowing all the leaves away again. Every Pixiekin 
has to leave off work to go and catch them! ” And 
he and the little old Lady of the Spring stood high 
up on the rocks, and watched all the Pixiekins run¬ 
ning about to catch a lot of green arrowhead lily- 
leaves, and bring them back to the neat little piles 
they had been arranged in. 

Then they saw a little group of Pixiekins gather 
together, over by the hazel-bushes, that grew right 
round the big oak tree, just as if they were discussing 
something. 

Gray Squirrel came out of the woodpecker’s hole, 
43 



JACINTH 


high up in the oak tree where she had her nest, and 
her baby squirrels. She sat on a branch near the 
group of Pixiekins, as if she was helping to make 
some plan. 

Then Sassafras Pixiekin, who was the very smallest 
Pixiekin of all, and not of very much use when there 
was any work to be done, climbed up the oak tree, and 
seemed to be talking to the baby squirrels inside the 
nest. Then Gray Squirrel jumped down to the 
ground, and galloped through the bushes and the tall 
grass, and along the little foot-path, as hard as she 
could, till she went round the bend by the sumac 
bushes, and out of sight. 

“ I wonder what they are planning to do,” the little 
old Lady of the Spring remarked. 

“ I think Gray Squirrel must be going to get some¬ 
thing,” Chestnut replied. “ But here comes Willow 
Pixiekin to tell us all about it.” 

They saw Willow Pixiekin, with all the long, nar¬ 
row, willow-leaves round the edge of his tunic, flying 

out like fringe, come running across the clear space 
44 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


beyond Crystal Pool. He scrambled up the rocks, 
where the stream ran into the pool. Then he jumped 
and scrambled from rock to rock, right up to where 
Chestnut and the little old Lady of the Spring were 
waiting for him. 



“ Oh, Chestnut,—and Lady of the Spring,” panted 
Willow, as he caught sight of the dignified little old 
Lady of the Spring, with her white cap, and long, 
crystal-headed walking-stick. “ Bumblebee just 

came to us, and said that Jacinth, Noel’s sister, was 
45 









JACINTH 


at the edge of the woods, picking strawberries. Gray 
Squirrel has gone to get her, for she is sure that 
Jacinth will help us stop the wind blowing.” 

“ But how will Gray Squirrel make her come? ” 
asked the little old Lady of the Spring. 



“ And how will she stop the wind blowing? ” de¬ 
manded Chestnut. 

“ Oh, I don’t know how they’ll do it,” explained 

Willow. “ But Gray Squirrel said she was sure 
46 





AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


Jacinth would come, and that she would know how 
to stop the wind blowing, when she got here.” 

“ But Jacinth cannot see us in the daylight,” said 
Chestnut. “ And she cannot hear us either, so how 
will she know we are here? ” 

“ Oh, I don’t know that,” replied Willow. “ But 
Gray Squirrel said she was sure it would come out all 
right. She has gone to get Jacinth. Sassafras Pixie- 
kin is up in the oak tree, playing with the baby Gray 
Squirrels till their mother comes back. Oh, I’m sure 
it will come out all right! ” 

“ Hum,” said the little old Lady of the Spring. 
“ Hum—Ha—Of course there are the hazel-wands.” 

“ Hazel-wands? ” asked Chestnut. “ How would 
they help? ” 

“ Why, the hazel-bush has magic powers, you know, 
particularly in Pixie W^oods,” replied the little old 
Lady of the Spring. “Whenever people want to 
find the right place to dig a well, and be sure to find 
water, they balance a forked hazel twig on their 
fingers. When they walk over the right spot, the 
47 



JACINTH 


hazel-wand dips down, down, and points to the 
ground. They call them ‘ divining-rods/ ” 

“ But how will they help us? ” asked Chestnut. 

“ I don’t quite know,” the Lady of the Spring re¬ 



plied. “ But, perhaps if Jacinth held one of them, 
it might help somehow, but I don’t know how.” 

“ Oh!” declared Willow. “ Gray Squirrel said it 
was sure to come out all right.” 

“ There’s Gray Squirrel now!” said Chestnut, 
48 





AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


pointing to the sumac bushes. “ He’s coming along 
the little foot-path. And look! She’s stopping and 
looking back! Just as if some one else is coming, 
too! ” 

As they watched for a moment, Jacinth came round 
the bend in the little foot-path, just where the sumacs 
grew. She was laughing and singing to herself, as 
she followed Gray Squirrel. She seemed very happy. 

Gray Squirrel raced along in front of her, until 
she came to another tree, which she climbed up a little 
way. Then she looked back at Jacinth, round the 
other side of the tree-trunk. When Jacinth came up 
to the tree, Gray Squirrel jumped down with a flick 
of her bushy tail, and ran along the foot-path again. 
Jacinth laughed, and skipped along, too. 

When Jacinth came near the group of big rocks, 
where the Spring was, in the very center of Pixie 
Woods, she heard the Spring bubbling, and boiling, 
and gurgling, and grumbling, as it forced its way 
among the sticks and leaves and moss that were chok¬ 
ing up its channel. 


49 






50 





































AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


Jacinth stopped a moment, and looked up at the 
rocks where the spring was, as if she also wondered 
what it was making such a noise about. 

“Why,” exclaimed Jacinth, “this must be the 
spring where Noel heard the Pixie Fairies singing. 
I wonder what it makes such a noise for? ” 

Then she left the little foot-path, and climbed up 
the rocks and the bank that surrounded the spring 
and its channel, that led down to Crystal Pool. But 
the sun was shining, so she could not see the little old 
Lady of the Spring, and Chestnut, and Willow 
Pixiekin, who were standing there. She thought 
that she was quite alone, with Gray Squirrel watching 
her. 

“Poor little spring!” said Jacinth, setting her 
basket, with the few strawberries in it, down on one 
of the big stones. “ Its channel is all filled up with 
sticks and things, and the water can’t get along. 
That’s why it’s making such a noise! ” 

Jacinth stepped from rock to rock, and almost 

knocked against the little old Lady of the Spring, 
51 




JACINTH 


who had to step hurriedly on one side, to get out of 
her way. Then Jacinth stooped down and began to 
pull the sticks, and stones, and leaves, out of the 
channel, so the water could creep along a little farther. 

“ Dear! Dear! ” the little old Lady of the Spring 
exclaimed. “ Bless the child! She’s as blind as 
blind can be! She can’t see anything but the sticks 
and stones, and misses all the bigger things about 
her!” 

“ But she’s very kind-hearted,” said Willow. 
“ Just see how she’s pulling all the things out of the 
way! ” 

“ I know! ” said the little old Lady of the Spring. 
“ But I wish she would do something more worth 
while.” 

“ Perhaps she will presently,” said Chestnut, “ if 
we give her time. If she sees the little sticks and 
stones now, and is willing to help get them out of the 
way, possibly it will help her to see the more impor¬ 
tant things by and by. Then she will know how to 
deal with them.” 


52 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“ I’ll tell her,” said Gray Squirrel, who sat in an 
alder bush, eating some buttercup-seeds that she had 
picked as she came along. “ She can see me, al¬ 
though she cannot see you. And she can hear me, 
too, but she doesn’t understand what I say very well.” 

Then Gray Squirrel leaned out of the alder bush 
toward Jacinth, and chattered, and chattered, and 
chattered, till Jacinth left off clearing the channel of 
the stream, and looked at her, and laughed happily. 

“You funny little Gray Squirrel!” she said. 
“ You look just as if you were trying to tell me 
something. But I’m afraid I don’t understand 
squirrel language very well. But we are giving the 
stream a chance to get through, down to the pool, 
aren’t we? ” 

Gray Squirrel chattered, and chattered. And 
when Jacinth went along a little farther, and pulled 
out some more sticks and stones, just where the water 
plunged down into the pool, Gray Squirrel went too, 
and so did the little old Lady of the Spring, and 
Chestnut, and Willow Pixiekin. Jacinth could not 
53 



JACINTH 


see them, however, but thought she and Gray Squirrel 
were all alone beside the Spring and Crystal Pool. 

“ There, Gray Squirrel,” said Jacinth. “ Now the 
water can get along. It will be able to clear the rest 
of the things away itself.” 

Jacinth stepped from rock to rock, till she came 
down to the edge of Crystal Pool itself. She stopped 
to look at it. 

The Pool lay so still and quiet, in the very heart of 
Pixie Woods. The ripples that had been all over its 
surface from the force of the water that had come into 
it, as it had fought its way from the spring, between 
the sticks and stones, were dying away, now that it 
had room to flow along gently, as it always had done. 

In places the water looked the purest blue, just the 
color of the summer sky above. In other places it 
was a shining, emerald-green, just the color of the 
leaves of the trees where the sun shone on them. 
And in other places it was a dark, dark green, just 
the color of the trees where they were in shadow. 

All over the surface of the pool were lily-pads, and 
54 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


some lily-buds were just peeping up, like round, 
green balls. Along the edge were great patches of 
arrowhead lilies, with their long spikes of buds, and 
in places the first of their white flowers were open. 

“If we could only make her see and hear,” said 



Chestnut Pixiekin to Willow, and the little old Lady 
of the Spring, and the other Pixiekins who had now 
joined them, and were watching Jacinth, “ I think 
she might find some way to help us. But how can 
we make her see and hear? ” 

55 





JACINTH 


“ I’m sure she will hear and see, too, when the right 
time comes,” said Willow. “Just wait! Gray 
Squirrel said it would be all right! Didn’t you? ” 

“ Of course,” said Gray Squirrel. “ Of course it’ll 
be all right.” 

Jacinth had been looking at Crystal Pool, with all 
the pond-lily buds ready to open. She watched the 
hazel-bushes that surrounded the clear space of grass 
beyond the pool, and saw the tall blueberry bushes 
beyond them again, swing and sway in the gusts of 
wind. Now she looked all around her, as if searching 
for something. 

“ It sounds just as if there were a lot of bees hum¬ 
ming,” she said to herself. “ But I don’t see them 
anywhere.” 

“ Oh, Chestnut!” said Willow excitedly. “ She’s 
beginning to hear something. Perhaps she will be 
able to see us presently.” 

A lot more of the Pixiekins had left their work, 
and had joined Chestnut and Willow. They were 

standing all around Jacinth, watching her. But she 
56 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


could not see them at all, and thought she and Gray 
Squirrel were all alone beside Crystal Pool. 

“ Let’s sing the Wood Song,” said Chestnut. 
“ Perhaps she will be able to hear us better, if we 
sing.” 

“ Why, there it is again,” said Jacinth, as she 
looked all around her. Then she looked up in the 
trees, and up at the spring among the big rocks, and 
up at the blue summer sky, and all around the grass 
again. 

“ Isn’t that beautiful, Gray Squirrel? ” said Ja¬ 
cinth. “ It sounds just like music on silver bells. 

Now it’s growing louder, and louder,—and- 

Why, there almost seems to be words in it ”: 

“ With sunshine, and wind, and rain, 

Our Woodland green grows bright, 

And we bring the power, 

At the helping hour, 

To hope till you find the light.” 

“ I never heard anything like that before,” said 

Jacinth. Then she turned round and round, as she 
57 




JACINTH 


looked at the trees, and then at the spring, and then 
at the sky, and then at the grass all around her, while 
Gray Squirrel chattered and chattered, as if she was 
trying to explain something. 

“ There, it’s coining again,” said Jacinth. “ Lis¬ 
ten,—just listen.” And she stood quite still, so she 
would not miss the slightest sound. “ There, it’s 
growing louder, and louder. Now the words are 
coming again ”: 

“ To those who have eyes to see, 
iWe come and lead the way, 

That every flower 
May bring forth the power 
To trust till the break of day.” 

Then it died away again. 

“ I never heard anything like that,” said Jacinth. 
“ Perhaps it’s the birds,—or the crickets. Mother 
said some people think the butterflies make a noise, 
but that we cannot hear them. I should think, if 
they could sing, it would sound just like that.” 

“ She can hear it,” declared Chestnut. 

58 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


Perhaps she will really be able to see presently,” 
said the little old Lady of the Spring. 

Just then a very strong gust of wind swept through 
the hazel-bushes and across the open space, and over 
Crystal Pool itself. It blew, and blew. It caught 



Jacinth’s muslin cap and almost pulled it off, and it 
made her long cloak flap, and flap, and twist all 
around her. 

Then she noticed a strange thing. Over by the 
hazel-bushes there were little heaps of arrowhead 
59 







60 










































AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


leaves,—fresh green leaves, and all arranged in neat 
little piles. When the wind blew so hard, it caught 
the leaves up, and tossed them about, and scattered 
them all over the grass. 

In a few moments the leaves all went back again, 
and again they were placed in neat little piles, and it 
looked as if a stone dropped on one, and a little stick 
dropped on another. 

Presently the wind came again, and once more the 
leaves were scattered, and again they came together 
again in piles. 

“Isn’t that queer!” said Jacinth to herself. “I 
never saw leaves go and lay down in piles before! ” 

Then Jacinth went over toward the hazel-bushes, 
and just beside where the big oak tree grew, and shel¬ 
tered the bushes a little from the wind, there were 
rows and rows of spiders, all spinning threads of silk 
from the branches of the hazel-bushes down to the 
ground. 

There were big ones, and little ones, brown ones 
and black ones, and some striped ones, and some plain 
61 



JACINTH 


yellow ones. Each one was busy spinning a thread 
of silk from the twig to the ground. Then he seemed 
to break it off, and run as fast as he could over the 
grass, and up the stem of the hazel-bush, and out on a 
branch. Then he jumped off, and spun another 
silken thread. 

“ Isn’t that queer! ” exclaimed Jacinth. “ I never 
saw so many spiders all together before! Just as if 
they were all working together! This seems a very 
queer place! ” 

Gray Squirrel leaned out of the oak tree just then, 
and chattered, and chattered, just as if she was trying 
to explain something about what the spiders were 
doing. Jacinth drew nearer and nearer, to watch the 
spiders, and to try and make out what they were 
doing. 

She caught hold of a branch of one of the hazel- 
bushes. In her eagerness to see just what they were 
doing, she leaned over farther and farther, keeping 
her balance by the aid of the hazel twig that she had 

grasped. Without thinking about it, and all at once, 
62 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


the stone she had stepped upon rolled a little, and the 
hazel twig snapped off in her hand. She caught hold 
of another branch to save herself from falling. Then 
she stood up, and looked all around her, still holding 
in her hand the forked hazel twig that had broken off 
so easily. 

She looked, and looked, and looked. Then she 
rubbed her eyes, as if she could not believe what she 
saw. 

“ Oh! ” exclaimed Jacinth, and she just sat down 
upon the stone she had been standing on. “ Oh, my 
goodness! ” 

It was no wonder that she was surprised. For in¬ 
stead of being all alone in the very middle of Pixie 
Woods, beside Crystal Pool, with all the pond-lily 
buds ready to open, and with the rows and rows of 
spiders all spinning silken threads among the hazel- 
bushes, and Gray Squirrel leaning out of the big oak 
tree, and chattering, and chattering, as if she was try¬ 
ing to explain something, there before her very eyes 

were all the Pixiekin Fairies themselves. 

63 





JACINTH 


“ Hold on to the hazel-wand, Jacinth!” Chestnut 
Pixiekin exclaimed, fairly jumping up and down with 
excitement in front of her. “ It must be the hazel- 
wand that makes you able to see and hear us. The 
Lady of the Spring said it might help somehow.” 

Jacinth looked at the forked twig in her hand, then 
back at Chestnut. 

“ This? ” she asked. 

“ Yes,” replied Chestnut. “ The hazels are magic 
bushes, you know, in Pixie Woods. It must be that 
which has made you able to see and hear us. We’ve 
been trying to make you see, ever since you helped the 
Lady of the Spring by clearing the channel of the 
stream.” 

“ I didn’t know that I was helping anybody,” said 
Jacinth. 

“ That’s just it! ” Willow Pixiekin joined in from 
where he was working. “We never can tell. We 
think, perhaps, that we are only doing something be¬ 
cause we want to, and then we find out we are helping 
somebody more than any one else in the world could 
64 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


do. Oh! we help a whole lot, when we just move the 
sticks and stones, even though we can’t see a bit of 
what is around us! ” 

But Jacinth was looking now at the scene before 
her, in the clear space beside Crystal Pool. There 
were rows and rows of Pixiekins working. Some of 
them were sitting on stones, just the right height, 
with piles of fresh green arrowhead leaves beside 
them, and each was stitching away with two needles, 
just as a cobbler sews a shoe. Then there were a lot 
of looms, where other Pixiekins were weaving long 
strips of the finest, most delicate kind of cobwebby 
ribbon. 

There were still other Pixiekins who were winding 
bobbins to put on the looms, and winding shuttles to 
keep the shuttle-baskets filled for each worker. 

Others were winding silken threads onto big spools. 
Some of these spools were full of big strong threads, 
others full of very fine threads, and all sorts of sizes 
between. 

Still other Pixiekins gathered arrowhead leaves at 
65 





JACINTH 


the edge of the pool, and carried great loads of them 
to those who were working. 

“ Oh, I have wanted to see the Pixiekin Fairies so 
much! ” declared Jacinth. “ Ever since Noel heard 
them singing by the spring, last summer, and more 
and more ever since he really saw them last winter.” 

“And we have wanted you to see us, too,” ex¬ 
plained Chestnut. “And we have been following 
you, and talking to you, and singing to you, ever since 
Gray Squirrel brought you here.” 

“ You must be Chestnut Pixiekin, I am sure,” said 
Jacinth, “ that Noel has told me so much about.” 

“ Yes,” replied Chestnut. “And that is Willow 
who is weaving at that loom. And that is Oak who is 
sewing over there.” 

Jacinth looked from one to the other, and then she 
said, “ I feel just as if I have always known you. 
Noel has told me so much about you.” 

“And that is Sassafras,” went on Chestnut, “ who 
is helping the big spider, over at the end of the row.” 

Then Jacinth noticed that the spiders who were 
66 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


spinning threads among the hazel-bushes were not 
alone, as she had thought they were, but each spider 
had several Pixiekins waiting upon him. 

Some helped to steady the silken thread, so the 
leaves and twigs would not blow against it and break 
it. Others cut it off when the spider reached the 
ground, and started to run up the hazel-bush stem to 
begin another thread. Others carried the finished 
threads to those who were winding them on spools. 

“ I never saw so many spiders before,” declared 
Jacinth. “And I didn’t know there were so many 
different-colored ones in the whole world.” 

Just then the wind came again, blowing through 
the hazel-bushes, and right across the smooth piece of 
grass where the Pixiekins were working. The spiders 
who were spinning swung and swayed, so they had to 
cling to the silken threads. The Pixiekins who were 
helping them had to run from one to the other, to 
help steady the threads, and keep them clear of all the 
leaves and grass that were being blown into them and 

threatening to break them. 

67 




JACINTH 


The neat little piles of arrowhead leaves, that were 
each placed conveniently for a group of Pixiekin 
workers, were blown all over the grass, right out to 
the edge of Crystal Pool. Some of them even went 
into the water, where the Pixiekins were having a 
hard time to get them again. 

“ O dear! ” exclaimed Chestnut Pixiekin, who had 
stayed beside Jacinth while she was looking at all the 
others working. “ O dear! There’s the wind again 1 
It blows everything all over the place. It keeps us 
all chasing the leaves, and helping the spiders to keep 
their threads from breaking. And the Pixiekins who 
are working have to leave off and help straighten 
things out. I don’t know when we shall be done! 
O dear! ” 

And he hurried away to help catch some of the 
leaves, and bring them back, and try to get them into 
a pile again beside Oak Pixiekin. Then he had to 
hurry over to Willow, whose loom had blown over, 
and they both had to pull and tug, in order to set it 
up again. 


68 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“Oh, Chestnut and Oak!” called some of the 
Pixiekins who were helping the spiders. “ Oh, come 
quick! quick!! The wind has tangled Brownie's 
thread all up, and it'll break! Come over here! 
Quick!!! ” 

Chestnut and Oak Pixiekin both ran as hard as 
they could, to one of the big brown spiders, who was 
dangling helplessly at the end of his thread. The 
thread had blown over another twig, and three Pixie¬ 
kins were holding it up as well as they could, to pre¬ 
vent the twig breaking it. 

Chestnut and Oak ran to Spider Brownie’s aid. 
They each took hold of two legs on each side, and 
lifted him over the obstructing twig, so that the silken 
thread again hung clear. 

Chestnut Pixiekin picked up a stone as large as he 
could carry, and brought it over and laid it on the pile 
of leaves near Jacinth. 

“ We should have had them all made by sunset,” 
he said to Jacinth. “ But the wind has come just like 

that all day, and has prevented us working. We are 
69 




JACINTH 


not nearly finished, and the festival begins to-morrow 
at noon! We have been so delayed, I don’t know 
what we are going to do! ” 

“ What are you making? ” asked Jacinth. “And 
what is the festival? ” 



“ Why, the Pond-Lily Festival,” replied Chestnut, 
looking at her in surprise that she did not know all 
about it. “ Didn’t you see all the round buds, almost 
ready to open, on Crystal Pool? ” 

70 





AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“ Why, yes,” said Jacinth doubtfully. “ I saw the 
buds, but I didn’t know there was a festival.” 

“ There always is, in Pixie Woods,” explained 
Chestnut. “ When the big white lilies open, and the 
yellow ones are all in bloom, and the pink ones will 
come in a day or two, why the whole woods rejoice. 
Then, there is so much to do, while that is on. We 
show the bees and butterflies where there is the most 
nectar to make honey from. We point out the blos¬ 
soms with the finest pollen, to be distributed to the 
others, so they can grow nice big seeds. Then we 
have to keep the dead leaves cleared up, and to help 
the new buds to open. Oh, we are very busy when 
the Pond-Lily Festival begins, and it makes it very 
hard, when we cannot get ready on time.” 

“ What are you making, that you cannot get fin¬ 
ished? ” asked Jacinth. 

“ Why, our water-boots,” explained Chestnut. 
“We must have the water-boots, so we can get 
around among the lilies.” 

“ Water-boots? ” said Jacinth in wonder. 

71 




larinth sat ot| the rock he side the octree. 


72 























































AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“ Yes,” said Chestnut. “ Just the same as people 
have snow-shoes, so they can walk on the snow. We 
make water-boots so we can walk on the water.” 

“ I am afraid I do not know anything about water- 
boots,” said Jacinth. “Although I know Noel has 
some snow-shoes.” 

“ The water-boots,” explained Chestnut, “ are 
made from nice, green, arrowhead lily-leaves. They 
are just the right shape. Then Willow and his help¬ 
ers are weaving bands that go round the heel, and 
across the toe, from spiders’ silk. And Oak and his 
helpers are sewing it onto the leaves, with the silken 
threads. That’s why we need different-sized threads. 
And so spiders of all the different kinds come and 
spin for us. Some of them make very strong threads, 
and others very fine ones. O dear! There’s the 
wind again! ” 

A rustling among the leaves at the top of the oak 
tree was the first sign of the returning gust of wind. 
Chestnut ran over to Willow Pixiekin, to help steady 

the loom, and prevent it blowing over again. 

73 



JACINTH 


Many of the other Pixiekins ran to the hazel-bushes 
to help the spiders, while all the others did their best 
to hold the leaves down, and prevent them from blow¬ 
ing away. 

Then the wind came in short, sharp gusts, sweeping 
across the grass, and right over Crystal Pool. As the 
bushes began to sway and swing, and the leaves to 
drive before the wind, it almost blew Jacinth’s muslin 
cap off. It made her long, red cloak flap and flap, 
and twist all around her. So, to keep her cloak still, 
she caught hold of one end of it, and, resting her hand 
on a low-growing branch of the oak tree, she held it 
straight out. As she held it so, it quite sheltered all 
the spiders, who were spinning in the hazel-bushes, 
and the wind never troubled them at all. 

“ Oh, Jacinth! ” Oak called out to her. “ That is 
fine! That is just what we need! Your cloak quite 
shuts off the wind, and helps us more than you can 
guess! ” 

“ Why, I’ll sit here, and hold it out,” declared 

Jacinth. “ I never thought that would help. But 
74 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


I’ve been wishing that I knew of something that 
would.” 

“ Gray Squirrel said she knew you would find some 
way to help,” said Chestnut. 

So Jacinth sat on the rock beside the oak tree, and 
rested her hand on one of its branches that grew out 
almost straight, but dipped down toward the ground, 
just at the end. 

“ That will be very comfortable,” said Jacinth, as 
she leaned against the trunk of the oak tree. “And I 
can hold my cloak straight out, as I rest my hand on 
this branch.” 

“That branch is very useful,” said Chestnut. 
“ Gray Squirrel always comes down that when she is 
going to look for acorns on the ground. Then she 
does not have to jump over all the stones and rocks.” 

“ We call it Gray Squirrel’s bridge,” said Oak. 

“Now we shall call it Jacinth’s wall, replied 
Chestnut. And Jacinth laughed happily, to think 
she could help. 

“ I am very glad I can help,” she said. 

75 



JACINTH 


Just then the leaves on the top of the oak tree 
began to rustle, and the summer breeze came in little 
gusts again. It blew the leaves and the tops of all 
the tall blueberry bushes about, and whistled, and 
growled as it rushed overhead. Then it came a little 
lower down, and pulled and pulled at Jacinth’s muslin 
cap. Then it pushed at her long, red cloak, as if it 
was trying to get it away from her. 

“Hi, Pixiekin fellows!” shouted Chestnut. 
“ Come over here and hold the edge of Jacinth’s cloak 
down.” 

Chestnut caught hold of the lower corner, and sev¬ 
eral others came running just as hard as they could, 
and held it all along the ground. 

“ Pile some of the stones along its edge,” directed 
Chestnut. And a lot more Pixiekins ran over and 
put several of the stones on the edge of the cloak, to 
help hold it down. 

“ That holds it well,” said Jacinth. “ Now the 
wind will not be able to trouble us again.” 

“ When Bumblebee,” began Willow, who was mov- 
76 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


Ing his loom over near Jacinth, so he could get the 
shelter of her cloak, “When Bumblebee came and 
told us that you were in Pixie Woods, Gray Squirrel 
said that she would go and get you, because she knew 
you would help.” 

“ I didn’t feel sure of it,” said Chestnut. “ I knew 
you could not see us or hear us, and I never thought 
of the magic hazel-wands till the little old Lady of the 
Spring spoke of them. Then I didn’t know just 
what they would do.” 

“ But Gray Squirrel insisted upon going for you,” 
Willow continued. “ She couldn’t very well spare 
the time, because the babies up in her nest are just 
getting big enough to crawl out, and they might fall 
if she didn’t watch them. But Sassafras Pixiekin 
said he would sit on the branch outside the nest, and 
dangle some alder catkins in the hole for them to play 
with, while she was gone. So Gray Squirrel went 
for you.” 

“ I should think she must have hated to leave 

them,” said Jacinth, looking up at the oak tree, to the 
77 




JACINTH 


place where she could see Gray Squirrel’s head peep¬ 
ing out at her. 

“ She’s very kind,” said Willow. “And she will 
give up her own wishes any time to help us.” 

Then Gray Squirrel leaned out of her hole up in 
the big oak tree, and chattered, and chattered. She 
seemed to be saying a whole lot of things to Willow, 
and both Willow and Chestnut laughed. 

“ She says,” remarked Willow, “ that we do a lot 
for her, and that she would consider herself a very 
poor neighbor if she didn’t do a little thing for us 
when she could.” 

Oak, and all the Pixiekins who were helping him, 
moved over quite near Jacinth. And Chestnut and 
his helpers brought the piles of leaves, and arranged 
them around Jacinth’s feet. Others brought the big 
spools of silk, so that all those winding the bobbins 
and the shuttles, and those who were threading the 
needles for the others that were sewing, could get the 
shelter of Jacinth’s cloak as well. 

Oak sat on a stone just the right height, and put 
78 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


his two needles in at once, one on each side, and pulled 
them out with a sharp little “ tick-tack, tick-tack, 
tick-tack.” And a whole row of Pixiekins sat round 
him, sewing just the same way. 

Then Willow’s loom went “ slip-slap, slip-slap, 
slip-slap,” as he threw the shuttle through the threads, 
and the heddle pushed the weaving close together. 
And there were a whole group of Pixiekins right 
around him, some winding bobbins to put on the loom, 
and others winding shuttles, to put in the shuttle- 
basket, ready for him to use. 

“ I wish I could be here while the Pond-Lily Fes¬ 
tival is being held,” all at once Jacinth said, as she 
watched the Pixiekins working so busily and happily. 
“ But Grandmother wants me to go and stay with her 
all the rest of the month in the town, and it will be 
over when she and I come back.” 

“ But how good it is to be wanted,” said Chestnut. 
“ You must be a very kind and helpful girl, Jacinth, 
that your grandmother looks to you to come and stay 
with her.” 


79 




JACINTH 


“ I’m afraid,” began Jacinth, and then she rather 
hesitated. “ I’m afraid I haven’t been at all kind 
this time, for I haven’t wanted to go.” 

“ Why not? ” asked Willow. 

“ I love to go to Grandmother’s in the winter,” said 
Jacinth. “Although I love to be here, too. But 
then in the town in the winter-time there are all the 
stores, with such pretty things in their windows, and 
all so brightly lighted in the evening. And there are 
so many people in the streets. And at Grand¬ 
mother’s there are the big fireplaces all burning, 
where we can roast apples and chestnuts, and we don’t 
seem to miss the birds and the woods so much. But 
in summer it’s so hot, and close, in the streets. The 
little garden has so few flowers, and the one pear tree 
never has a bird in it. And all the butterflies get lost 
before they get there. Oh, it’s nothing like Pixie 
Woods in the summer! ” 

“ Can’t Grandmother come here and stay with 
you? ” asked Willow anxiously. 

“ No,” replied Jacinth, “ because there wouldn’t be 
80 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


any one to take care of things till Aunt Esther comes 
home again. Betty isn’t big enough to help much, if 
she went. And Mother has to take care of her and 
Noel, here at home, so I am the one who must go.” 

“ It always seemed to me,” said Chestnut, “ that to 
be so useful and helpful that others want you, is one 
of the very finest things in the world. And I think, 
too, for any one to feel that others don’t care for them, 
and that they are being neglected, is one of the worst 
things in the world.” 

“ I am so sorry,” said Willow, “ that the little old 
Lady of the Spring felt that we were neglecting her 
because she was old. But when Jacinth cleared the 
sticks and stones away, she was very happy again.” 

“ Did she feel so? ” asked Jacinth, looking across 
Crystal Pool, where she could now see the little old 
Lady of the Spring, with her long, crystal-headed 
walking-stick, directing some of the Pixiekins about 
something they were doing among the lilies. 

“ Indeed she did,” replied Chestnut. “And she 

was very serious about it, too.” 

81 




JACINTH 


“ I'm so glad I cleared the sticks and stones away,” 
said Jacinth. “Although I had not got the magic 
hazel-wand then, so I could not see any of you. But 
I am very glad that I made her happier. I shouldn’t 
like Grandmother to think I did not care for her be¬ 
cause she was old.” 

“ Of course not,” said Willow. “ Of course not! 
Nobody would! ” 

And Jacinth sat quite still for a little while, and 
watched the little old Lady of the Spring, who was so 
very busy on the other side of Crystal Pool, while all 
the other Pixiekins were working just as hard as they 
could. 

“ Tick-tack, Tick-tack, Tick-tack,” went the nee¬ 
dles and thread of all the Pixiekins who were sewing 
the water-boots, round Oak. 

“ Slip-slap, Slip-slap, Slip-slap,” went the looms 
that Willow and his helpers were weaving upon. At 
the same time Gray Squirrel would come and sit on a 
branch of the oak tree, and chatter with pleasure, to 
see how well everything was going. 

82 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“And Gray Squirrel, 1 ” said Jacinth all at once, 
“ was willing to leave her babies, and go all the way 
along the little foot-path, to bring me here to help 
you? ” 

“ Yes,” replied Willow. “And she’s always doing 
things like that for us. Just giving up what she 
wants to help somebody else. That’s why we think 
so much of her.” 

“ I’m glad I’m going to Grandmother’s to-mor¬ 
row,” all at once declared Jacinth. “ I wouldn’t have 
her think that I was neglecting her for anything. 
And I’m going to do all I can to help.” 

“ Jacinth has helped us to-day,” said Chestnut. 
“ What can we do to help her? ” 

All the Pixiekins became very thoughtful. 

“ I’m going to coax Bumblebee to go and see her 
every day,” said Willow. 

“And I’m going to ask Black-and-Yellow Butter¬ 
fly to go every day,” said Oak. “And I’m going to 
leave a flower on Noel’s door-step every morning,” 

said Chestnut. “ He can take it to Jacinth in the 
83 



JACINTH 


town, when he goes to work. Then J acinth will know 
we are thinking of her, and are watching for her to 
come back to us.” 

“ I know Noel will bring it to me,” said Jacinth. 

“ Noel is a great friend of ours,” said Willow. 
“We are very proud of him, he is so steady and 
strong. I wish everybody we try to help could do as 
well. And we are going to be great friends of Ja¬ 
cinth’s, too.” 

All the Pixiekins worked away just as hard as they 
could, while Jacinth held her long red cloak out, and 
sheltered them from the gusts of wind. Willow’s 
loom went “ Slip-slap, Slip-slap, Slip-slap,” as he 
wove the last of the strips needed to make the water- 
boots. And as they worked, they sang the loom 
song: 


“ Slip-slap, Slip-slap, 

Slip, slip,—slip, slip,—slip, 
The shuttle sings, 

The heddle rings, 

And the weaver works away. 
84 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


The fabric grows, 

The pattern shows, 

As the weaver works to-day. 

“ And he weaves his thoughts 
In a golden web, 

Till the pattern glorious shows, 

As his actions fine, 

Come forth in time, 

With every thread he throws. 

“ The shuttle sings, 

The heddle rings, 

And the weaver works away. 

The fabric grows, 

The pattern shows, 

As the weaver works to-day. 

Slip-slap, slip-slap, 

Slip, slip,—slip, slip,—slip.” 

The last notes died away, as the looms went slower, 
and slower, and stopped when the work was finished. 

“ That is beautiful,” said Jacinth. “And how glad 
I am that you will have everything ready for the fes¬ 
tival.” 

“ It’s only sewing the last of them together now,” 

said Oak. “ Then we shall be through.” 

85 




JACINTH 


And Oak’s needles and thread went, “ Tick-tack, 
tick-tack, tick-tack,” as he and his helpers were sew¬ 
ing the last of the water-boots together. And now, 
as they worked, they sang the cobblers’ song: 

“ Tick-tack,—tick, 

His needles bravely click, 

As he stitches his thoughts, 

And his words and his deeds, 

His wishes and hopes, his fears and needs, 

Into his work while his needles click, 

Tick-tack,—tick. 

" Tick-tack,—tick, tick, tick, 

Faster his needles click, 

Till his work is all done. 

When his brain and his heart 

Tell surely that he has done his part, 

He cuts his thread, with his snip, snip, snip, 
Tick-tack,—tick.” 

“Finished!” declared Chestnut. “Finished! and 
the sun has not yet set! We never could have done it, 
if Jacinth had not helped us. Three cheers for Ja¬ 
cinth! ” 

“Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!” shouted every 
86 



AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


Pixiekin, as he put on his new water-boots, and Ja¬ 
cinth stood up, ready to start homeward, 

“ I have not helped you any more than you have 
helped me,” said Jacinth. “And now I must be go¬ 
ing home, or Noel will be there before me! ” 

They all went together to the edge of Crystal Pool. 
Then Jacinth went along the rocks that led up the 
banks of the little stream, where she had left her bas¬ 
ket, with the few strawberries in it that she had found. 

“ Good-by, good-by,” shouted all the Pixiekins, as 
they ran over the surface of Crystal Pool in their new 
water-boots, just as if they were skating on the water. 

“ We shall think of you, Jacinth,” they called. 
“And we shall watch for you to come back.” 

“ Good-by,” called Jacinth as she went her way up 
the banks of the little stream, that now ran merrily 
down its channel. As she looked up toward the big 
rocks where the spring was, there was the little old 
Lady of the Spring, waiting for her. 

“ I sent some of the Pixiekins to get the first of the 

pond-lilies for you and Noel,” she said to Jacinth. 

87 




JACINTH 


“ They had to explain to the very largest buds that 
they must hurry and open, so you could have them. 
And the plants have sent you these, to tell you how 
they thank you for helping clear the channel, so the 
water from the spring could reach them.” 



Then Jacinth saw her basket, and the beautiful lily- 
buds filled it right up to the handle. 

“ The pink ones,” continued the little old Lady of 
the Spring, “ bring the thanks of the plants, with all 
their glowing life and strength. And the yellow ones 

bring the thanks of the sunlight, whose color they 
88 






AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


show, that there is plenty of moisture to be drawn up 
into the air. And the white ones bring the thanks of 
the water, for making its task so much easier. Now, 
run along, child, or Noel will be home before you get 
his strawberries there for his supper.” 

The Lady of the Spring waved her hand to Ja¬ 
cinth when she said this, and disappeared in a cloud of 
spray that rose up from the spring. 

“ Thank you, thank you,” called Jacinth. “ For 
even if I cannot see you, perhaps you can hear me. 
This is a very wonderful place, and I do not know 
how many things are here that I do not understand.” 

Then Jacinth picked up her basket of lilies, and 
went back to the little foot-path, where Gray Squirrel 
was waiting to go with her a little way toward the 
edge of Pixie Woods. 

As she left Pixie Woods, and the little foot-path 
joined their own path that went from their cottage, 
right down into the valley, the sun was setting beyond 
the fields. All the sky was crimson and gold, and 

overhead it was the purest blue. 

89 




JACINTH 


The wind that had blown all day had ceased with the 
setting sun. The mists that had floated through the 
valley when Jacinth had entered the Woods, were 
gone. All the valley lay calm and clear, in that 
golden light before twilight. 

As Jacinth came to their own path, she stood, shad¬ 
ing her eyes from the sun’s level rays, and looked 
down into the valley. There was Noel coming up the 
path. Jacinth went down to meet him. 

“ Oh, Noel!” she cried when they drew near to¬ 
gether. “ Noel, I have seen the Pixiekins! ” 

“ You have? ” said Noel. “ Really seen them? ” 
“Yes,” said Jacinth. “ Really seen them and 
talked with them! And I have seen the little old 
Lady of the Spring, and she’s just like Grandmother, 
only she’s little, like Chestnut and Willow. And, 
Noel, see the pond-lilies the Lady of the Spring sent 
to us. She said they were for Noel and me. I tried 
to get some strawberries for your supper, but I did 
not get many, because it took so much time to help the 

Pixiekins. There are just a few in my basket.” 

90 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“We can get more strawberries at some other 
time,” said Noel. “ But we don’t often get a chance 
to help the Pixiekins.” 

Noel took the basket, and lifted out a couple of 
lilies, so he could see them better. 

“ But there’s more than lilies here, Little Sister,” 
he said, as he gently separated the flowers. “ Just 
see, the Pixiekins filled your basket with the great, 
ripe wood-strawberries, before they laid the lilies on 
the top.” 

They both looked into the basket, and saw the lilies 
were only a covering for the fruit below. 

“ I think the Pixiekins give us a great deal,” Noel 
said, “ for every little thing we do for them.” 

“ Chestnut told me,” said Jacinth, “ that he thought 
that to be useful to some one, so they needed you, was 
the very finest thing in the world.” 

“And did you really see and talk with Chestnut and 
Willow, Jacinth? ” Noel asked. “ Oh, they are fine 
fellows!” 

“ Yes,” replied Jacinth. “And, Noel, they say 

91 



JACINTH 


that they are proud of you. If everybody would be 
as steady and strong as you have been, they say it 
would be the greatest help to them.” 

“Well, it’s all their doing! ,, said Noel. “They 
are helping me all the time.” 

“And, Noel,” confided Jacinth, “do you know, I 
really did not want to go to Grandmother’s this morn¬ 
ing, when I thought about it. But after I saw the 
Pixiekins, and the little old Lady of the Spring, and 
the Pixiekins told me how badly she felt because they 
had not cleared the channel for the spring, and how 
she thought they were neglecting her because she was 
old, Willow said, I understood how Grandmother 
would feel if she knew that I had not wanted to go to 
her when she wanted me. She might think that I was 
neglecting her because she was old, and I shouldn’t 
like that to happen. And when they told me all that 
Gray Squirrel was willing to do to help them, and 
how it made them like her, I made up my mind that 
people should find me useful, too, and want me, if I 
could make them.” 


92 




AND HER FAIRY FRIENDS 


“ That’s what I’m trying to do, too,” said Noel. 
“And I never knew before how much it helped.” 

“ I’m going to take the very best care of Grand¬ 
mother while I’m there,” said Jacinth. “ And I will 
make the garden grow. Butterfly and Bumblebee are 
coming to see me every day. And Chestnut is going 
to leave a flower on our door-step every morning, if 
you will bring it to me.” 

“ Indeed, I will,” declared Noel. “ I saw Grand¬ 
mother this afternoon. Cousin Annie is going to 
stay with her also, so you will not be lonely.” 



93 































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By NELLIE M. PAIRPOINT 

NOEL AND THE LITTLE 
PEOPLE OF THE WOODS 

JACINTH AND HER 
FAIRY FRIENDS 

TWO FINE STORIES 
FOR CHILDREN 

Beautifully Illustrated by the author 

* 3 ? * 3 ? * 3 ? 

The story of this brother and sister and 
their life among the Ntfood folks is fasci¬ 
nating from beginning to end. 



Colored jackets — fully illustrated 
Cloth hound—100 pages — $1.00 each 












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